As we continue to celebrate 30 years in business, it has been fun to look back at some of our longest running client relationships.
ALS Therapy Development Institute and Safety Partners have been going strong for 12 years! Jennifer Reilly, our President and COO, has been their CSO for most of that time!
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Motor Neuron Disease (MND), Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and Charcot’s disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. This results in the wasting away of muscle, loss of movement and eventual paralysis.
There are an estimated 30,000 people living with ALS in the United States at any given time. Most people live about 3-5 years after they experience their first signs of disease, with one in ten people surviving at least 10 years. The variable rate of disease progression makes prognosis difficult to predict and therapies challenging to develop. Currently, there are no effective cures or treatments to stop disease progression of ALS.
The ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) is the largest drug discovery lab in the world focused solely on finding treatments for ALS. They are a nonprofit biotech with a mission to ensure that everyone with ALS has access to effective treatments. The company is funded by donations from people with ALS, their friends, and families.
There are drugs being tested that may slow progression for some, but they won’t cure ALS. There needs to be many more treatments discovered to provide effective treatment options to the ALS community. In 2021, ALS TDI stated that their goal is to advance a new therapy into human clinical testing every two years.
The company was co-founded by Stephen Heywood, who was diagnosed with ALS in 1998 and passed away in 2006.
The amazing team at ALS TDI is still working hard to bring relief and hope to the patient community and Safety Partners continues to play a role in their ongoing quest!